Leah Hing (1907–2001) was the first Chinese American woman to earn her pilot's license. Trained by Tex Rankin, an early aviation pioneer at Pearson Field in Vancouver, Washington, she received her pilot's license in 1934. Later she became an instrument mechanic during World War II at a Portland air base. Childhood Hing grew up near Salem, Oregon, and spent her school breaks working on her father's hops ranch. Her mother, Ah Sin Hing, had emigrated from Canton, China: her father, Lee Hing, was born in Oregon. She had two sisters, Lily and Ruth, and one brother, Peter. When she was five years old, her father bought a house in the Ladd's Addition neighborhood of Portland. Hing would live in Ladd’s Addition for the rest of her life. Hing was a member of the Tanda Campfire Girls and president of the Portland Chinese Girls' Club. Her family were members of the Holt Presbyterian Church. She attended Atkinson Elementary School, Stephens Middle School, Washington High School, and the Northwestern Business College. In 1927, she danced in the Portland Rose Festival alongside seventeen other Chinese-American girls, including her lifelong friend Lillian Lang and future pilots Hazel Ying Lee and Virginia Wong. Hing was one of the first Chinese-American women in Portland hired as an elevator operator. Vaudeville tour In 1927, Hing and five other young women founded the Portland Chinese Girls' Orchestra under the umbrella of the Portland Chinese Girls' Club. Hing played the saxophone, and was accompanied by cymbals, drums, xylophone, trombone, and banjo. Lillian Lang and Virginia Wong were also members. After three years of local performances, they joined The Honorable Wu's Vaudeville Troupe and took their show on the road. The band allowed them to travel America at a time when few jobs were open to Chinese-American women. At the time they left, they ranged in age from eighteen to twenty-two. They spent a year touring the U.S. and Canada, but only played one song, "Happy Days Are Here Again." Family friend Patsy Lee said that they "just lived hand-to-mouth, but they were able to travel." While they were playing in Chicago, Hing took her first airplane ride at a school for Chinese-American aviators. She returned to Portland determined to become a pilot. Aviation career Rankin Flying School Hing managed the Chinese Tea Garden restaurant, where her father was a stockholder. While working there, she met Tex Rankin, who recruited